Industrial action for London Bus services operated by Tower Transit

Route 25 is one of the routes affected.

"Au Morandarte Flickr DSC00149 (12486722443)" by Au Morandarte from London, Middlesex, England - DSC00149Uploaded by Ultra7. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

TFL have issued a press release in regards of the private bus operator Tower Transit striking.

Transport for London (TfL) has today issued advice to bus passengers ahead of planned strike action by members of the Unite union, who work for Tower Transit, which will affect bus services in east and central London on Monday 29 December and Monday 5 January. 

The strike is over a dispute between Unite and Tower Transit over bus driver pay and conditions. Only around 22 per cent of Tower Transit bus drivers voted for strike action. TfL is calling for Unite and Tower Transit to swiftly resolve the dispute so that passengers are not disrupted 

Change of operator for London Buses route 498

Recently there have been reports that Route 498 have been awarded to Stagecoach London from Go Ahead Blue Triangle.

But we might soon see the last of the Optare Olympus Scania N250UD buses for route 498 because Go Ahead London's contract will come to an end by 27th June 2015. Leaving it to Stagecoach East Londonwith new double decks to operate on route 498 for a new contract.

So here is the video of the Optare Olympus Scania in action.

More Electric Buses for London

"London United OCE3 (LJ14 SZR), Regent Street Bus Cavalcade (3)" by John Pannell from Watford, UK - 2014-Year-of-the-Bus-Cavalcade--DSCF1557. Licensed under CC BY-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Earlier this week, TFL issued a press release about the roll out of the new single deck electric buses.

The two Optare MetroCity buses are now in service on route 312, which is operated by Arriva, between South Croydon and Norwood Junction. The bus route is used by around 4,700 passengers a day. Passengers travelling on these buses will benefit from much lower noise and vibration levels compared to regular buses with diesel engines.

These new electric buses are the latest addition to Europe's greenest bus fleet and will increase TfL's experience and understanding of this relatively new technology. The buses were built by UK bus manufacturer Optare, which is part of the Hinduja Group, based in Sherburn in Elmet, North Yorkshire. They have zero tail pipe emissions at point of use, resulting in lower overall carbon emissions.

Route 137 conversion officially confirmed by TFL

New Routemasters are now in service on route 137

TfL issued a press release on the conversion of Route 137 to New Routemasters.

Transport for London (TfL) has today announced that the next bus route to be served entirely by New Routemaster buses will be the 137.

From Saturday 6 December there will be phased conversion of the route, which is operated by Arriva, and runs between Oxford Circus and Streatham Hill, via Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge, Sloane Square, Chelsea Bridge, Battersea Park and Clapham Common. The route will be running entirely with New Routemaster buses by the end of December.

During peaks hours, 31 of these state of the art buses will be in passenger service to carry the 22,000 people who travel on the route each week day.

Video: Class 315 Abellio Greater Anglia from London's Liverpool Street to Stratford

Take a virtual ride on the Class 315 train from London's Liverpool Street to Stratford.

Last New Routemaster route conversion for year 2014 date confimed

Just a quick article, the London Bus Routes website has finally reported that the Route 137 conversion to New Routemaster will commence on 6th December 2014. It is reported to be a phased conversion instead of a complete overnight conversion and there will be no changes made to the timetable.

It is reported that they will use the last batch of the Euro V engined New Routemaster buses.

Video: Out of Service S Stock train at Barbican Station

During the afternoon of 12th November 2014, I have captured the out of service S Stock train going past Barbican station.

Hovercrafts for London River Services?

Short Lived London Regional Transport Logo

In 1984, the British government brought in the London Regional Transport Act 1984. I was scanning through the pages of the Act, over on Legislation.gov.uk and I stumbled upon the ‘Operating Powers of London Regional Transport’ page.

In paragraph one of the ‘carriage and storage’ section, it states that London Regional Transport can operate in any form of transport from land and water, which also includes 'hovercrafts'.

If you don’t believe me, here is the relevant text:

No more Heatherwick designed buses for London?

"Metroline bus LT25 (LTZ 1025), route 24, 23 June 2013" by R Sones - From geograph.org.uk. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Since TFL ordered another 200 New Routemasters to extend the fleet to 800 by 2016, TFL board have no plans to buy another 1,000 New Routemasters.

This is from their board paper released in October 2014.

New 2015 Transport fares for London

Some good news for the workers that work in Central London as the new fares for 2015 have been unveiled. In zones 1-6 the fares have been capped and are going down to £11.70. London Transport Buses are also frozen again and capped at £4.40.

Press release from TfL

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today set out a step change in Transport for London's (TfL's) fares for 2015, giving flexible and part-time workers, including those with unpredictable hours, access to lower fares.